StrawHat said:
Wild Bill Hickok was known to discharge his brace of 51 Navies each morning, clean, and reload them.
So in the course of a year he would load and fire at least 4368 charges? While I too have read of this I believe it is more a product of the Buntline press.
Thats how its come down and was written by people who knew him. So we do the math and think its not possible? What of the documentation?
I used to shoot my single 1860 carry gun about 3 times a week and did this for a couple of years. This was if I did not shoot it for fun. Where I might shoot more than one cylinder full.
Figure 104 weeks, 2.5 times a week, it was a full flute Army and could be carried with 6. So 6 times 260 comes to 780 rounds a year, if I had carried a pair I would likely have shot them both for the same reason. Fresh loads. I could easily have shot a 1000 rounds a year from this revolver and I had less motivation than Wild Bill.
I was also pretty damned proficient with it since I shot it a lot. Enough I had to make a new wedge for it at one time since it became loose with the original.
To me having carried a C&B a lot it makes perfect sense. In keeping my loads fresh I never remember having a miss-fire. I carried it in a shoulder holster under a jacket or coat so dampness was a concern especially in hot weather. Now if it were in a house in a drawer it would probably remain reliable for years. But carrying it every day? Can't trust to luck.
There is a book called "Blood Meridian", its fiction. However, there is a Journal that it is based on. I cannot at the moment recall the title having seen it at a friend's house last month. But in it the Journal keeper mentions that in real life Glanton killed a Texas Ranger with a knife when the Ranger's Navy went click while held against Glanton's forehead across a card table. It was a life changing event for the Ranger.
You are looking at it from economics or time/trouble. Hickok was looking at life and death. He had been in numerous shooting scrapes by this time, his last days in Deadwood, and knew that the guns HAD TO WORK. Misfires were common and got people killed as I am sure Wild Bill knew and not just with cap & ball guns.
The 1898 fight in which Soapy Smith and Reid were killed in Skagway comes to mind. Reid's cartridge revolver failed to fire and he died in agony 12 days later as a result. Soapy was luckier, he died on the spot but not by Reid. Maybe Reid had old ammo. Oil could kill the primer in CF cartridges or the powder in any of them. So even today changing ammo in a carry gun is a good idea. Remington in the 20th century used to advertise that their handgun ammo was "oil proof" in large letters on the front of the box.
So Bill's shooting did 2 things, it kept his hand in and kept his loads fresh.
Hickok was not killed because his firearms let him down. He could not afford to have a "click".
I once read an account of an outlaw who had taken some time off and was living in a cabin. He had brought along food, a case of ammo for his sixshooter, which he practiced with daily along with riding his horse a few miles aday so the horse was in shape.
Of course he might have been lying but it makes PERFECT sense. Flabby gun handling or a flabby horse could easily cost him his life. So he took "measures" to assure this would not be a factor. He didn't HAVE to do this. But he knew it was a very good idea perhaps learned the hard way at some time.
When you read things like this you must ask yourself "what would I do if MY life was at stake"?
Dan
